Victoria Azarenka and Novak Djokovic roll to easy title wins at sweltering Indian Wells

Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka rolled to easy victories in the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday, with the top-ranked Serb collecting his record fifth title and Azarenka winning for the second time to get back into the world’s top 10.

Djokovic beat Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-0 to improve his match record to 22-1 this year.

It was the Serb’s third consecutive title in the California desert, breaking a tie with four-time champion Roger Federer, who lost to Djokovic the past two years in the final and skipped this year because of a knee injury.

“I’m just glad to be able to raise the level of my game as the tournament progresses, and that’s something that I have been doing in the last two years particularly on the big events,” Djokovic said.

Azarenka defeated error-prone Serena Williams 6-4, 6-4.

Azarenka’s victory and Williams’ return to the final for the first time since 2001, when a hostile crowd triggered her 14-year boycott, was overshadowed by comments from tournament director Raymond Moore.

Earlier Sunday, he criticised the WTA Tour and its players, saying they “ride on the coattails of the men” while describing the women as “physically attractive and competitively attractive.”